This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board.
Youâve seen the image by now (if not, scroll up). Members of the Harvard branch of the Ku Klux Klan pose, in full regalia, for a 1924 graduation photo huddled around our campusâs most renowned landmark: the John Harvard Statue. Slacks and dress shoes poke out from their robes. One Harvard Klansman cheekily straddles John Harvard and turns his head to the camera. The group looks defiantly calm â almost as if theyâd already guessed our Universityâs then lax stance towards their ideology.
The pictured students were, per a recent deep dive into the KKKâs Harvardâs ties by Crimson staff writer Simon J. Levien â23-24, only one testament to the white supremacist groupâs pervasive presence on our campus throughout the 20th century.
Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School.
Harvard has apparently concluded its review of its relationship to the convicted child sex offender, Jeffrey E. Epstein. In September 2019, after expressing that he âprofoundly regret[s]â Harvardâs association with Epstein, University President Lawrence S. Bacow promised âto review how we prevent these situations in the future.â In May 2020, the University released a report completing the first steps of that review. The report found Harvard had taken no money from Epstein after his conviction, though there were further questions that merited study. Two weeks ago, after completing that study, Harvard determined to shutter the research center Epsteinâs money had founded, and âdisciplin[e]â its academic director.
Government professor Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. â53 is widely known on campus as the default example of a conservative faculty member at Harvard.
According to Mansfield, this is not because his views possess any sort of âsuperiorityâ to othersâ perspectives, but simply because a professor with his political stance is ârareâ on Harvardâs campus.
âEvery class you enter, you have to work out your position vis-Ã -vis what the professor is saying,â Mansfield said. âBecause a professor is going to be a liberal, and heâs not going to be bashful about it.â
âThere are many more conservatives among the students than there are among either the faculty or the administration,â he said, adding that those students tend to seek him out as one of the few vocal conservative voices in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Amid a wave of rising anti-Asian violence, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay said in a Wednesday interview that Harvard aims to âpursue durable changeâ in diversifying its faculty and fostering an inclusive climate.
After a 21-year-old gunman killed eight people â including six Asian women â at three Atlanta-area spas last month, Gay and other administrators, including University President Lawrence S. Bacow, condemned the rise in anti-Asian violence in a series of emails.
In his message, Bacow instructed Harvard affiliates to contact the Universityâs police force if they have knowledge of a âracist attack.â A dozen Harvard student organizations signed a letter criticizing Bacow for the suggestion, calling it an âunacceptable and harmful remedyâ for anti-Asian violence at the University.